


In Passing

by bitsori



Series: Beautiful Feeling [4]
Category: Day6 (Band), TWICE (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - After College/University, Extremely Short Timespan, F/M, LMAO, Light Millennial Angst, Non-Linear Narrative, School Reunion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2019-12-07
Packaged: 2021-02-25 20:55:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21631795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bitsori/pseuds/bitsori
Summary: Dowoon sat behind Nayeon for almost the entirety of their second year, but he doesn't really remember ever engaging her in actual conversation, other than when he would occasionally ask about the words their English teacher would write on the board. And so this is the first image of Nayeon that pops in his mind when he sees her again, five years after graduation; her back, small and tiny, and almost always hunched over while she takes notes.--or: Nayeon and Dowoon attend their high school class' reunion, five years after graduation ( AU )
Relationships: Im Nayeon/Yoon Dowoon
Series: Beautiful Feeling [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1144310
Comments: 10
Kudos: 41
Collections: JYP JUKEBOX ROUND 2: OF MONSTERS AND MEN





	In Passing

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [JYP JUKEBOX - Round 2](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/JYP_OMAM_Jukebox)  
> Inspired by: **Of Monsters And Men's[Stuck In Gravity](https://open.spotify.com/track/3AF6JW5zzVmSkQWIKMVYqh)**
> 
> I wanted to use this fic event as an excuse to add to my DAY6 het collection because it's been a while, lmao. I always meant to write him with Nayeon, and the idea of a high school reunion fic has been floating around in my head forever, so!! Have this. I hope it makes sense and is enjoyable enough. It's very much just a loose interpretation of the song, but it was pretty much also my mood music during writing this.
> 
>   
>  _I'm stuck in gravity  
>  I'm far from where I wanna be  
> I'm like a raindrop in the ocean  
> I get lost in my delusional reality_   
> 

\--

  
  
  


Nayeon’s eyelids are slowly falling; she's gradually nodding off, when Dowoon nudges her awake, one hand outstretched towards her, holding a tall cup of steaming hot, designer coffee as offering.

“Thanks,” she says, blowing at it gently, trying to cool it down before she attempts a sip. “I can't believe the sun's out.”

Dowoon shrugs. “Should probably go home.” Even now, he's quite sparse with words.

Nayeon nods sleepily. “Probably should,” she agrees, but she doesn't budge from where she's seated.

Dowoon takes a sip of his own coffee, and Nayeon smiles at him.

He smiles back.

  
  
  


Nayeon first hears about the reunion from Jisoo. It was originally supposed to only be a small and humble get-together with a select few of their old classmates, with no other aim than to casually catch up with each other.

As it turns out, their class president and their class secretary, high school sweethearts who married each other as soon as the class president was done with mandatory military service, are set to migrate to Canada with their newborn son in a couple of months. Somehow, this is enough reason to turn a little gathering into a full blown fifth year graduation anniversary reunion. Apparently no one wants to miss sending off the beloved couple before they went.

Nayeon is apprehensive at first, especially after she realises that she wasn't included in the original get-together’s guest list. That part’s a bit of a blow to her pride and ego, considering she likes to think that she was pretty well-liked in high school.

Jisoo talks big, though, and is insistent on the fun factor of the reunion. “It’ll be fun—they're holding it at Nayoung's parents’ restaurant, so if anything we'll at least have a good meal,” she presses. “Come on!”

“Fine,” Nayeon eventually caves; work has been stressful recently, and since high school always reminds her of simpler times, she figures that maybe this reunion can be a much deserved break.

“I’ll RSVP for both of us, then?” Jisoo confirms.

“Fine, yeah, okay, sure—” Nayeon nods, smiling as she finally allows Jisoo’s enthusiasm to carry over to herself.

  
  
  


Dowoon finds out about the reunion through an event notification on Facebook; he doesn't even remember to check who tagged him for it, and the only reaction he has initially is a very flat, “Oh.”

“Whatcha looking at?” Jae, one of his roommates, glances over Dowoon’s shoulder as he flops down next to him on the couch.

Dowoon doesn't hesitate to hand the phone over to Jae, even as the couch shifts again, with their other roommate, Younghyun, parking himself on Dowoon's other side, arms wrapped around a massive bowl of popcorn.

“What's going on?” He asks, curiously leaning over as well.

“Dowoon's got a high school reunion,” Jae informs him, offering Younghyun the phone in exchange for a handful of popcorn.

“Cool!” Younghyun comments, quick to hand the phone back to the rightful owner after he's done perusing the event details. “High school was fun—you going?”

Dowoon doesn't think he relates to Younghyun in this, but he shrugs noncommittally anyway.

“Maybe,” he considers. “If I’m not busy.”

  
  
  


Truth be told, Nayeon’s high school years were pretty great. She was – _is_ – a pretty girl, and that's always more than enough to get you a good start among your peers.

More than that, she got good grades, and she was personable enough that she got along with not just her classmates, but most of her schoolmates. She was often busy with the school choir after class, and then cram school after that, yet somehow she still had time to entertain advances of cute boys.

Overall, her star shone quite brightly during those years.

The thing is, however, she barely kept contact with most of her classmates after graduation. She and Jisoo stuck together, but her aside, once Nayeon stepped foot in university, she'd pretty much started a whole new life.

This would probably explain not just the non-invitation to the original, more intimately planned gathering, but also why she ends up seated near the corner of the room next to Yoon Dowoon, who mostly kept to himself back in high school.

  
  
  


Funny enough, Nayeon’s first vivid memory of Dowoon that gets triggered after she gets ushered to sit next to him, isn't even technically from high school, but from before.

She remembers him from the afternoon when she took the entrance exam for what eventually became their joint alma mater. She was at the nearby bus stop, tired and fidgety after a day’s worth of exam taking, while he was seated a few feet away, on the bench, large headphones covering his ears, music faintly coming through as he drums his hands against his thighs.

It was a little annoying, and even with a handful of others there, the persistent action ensured that Nayeon’s attention fell solely on him.

At 14, Nayeon was pretty used to being able to demand that things go her way, so when she reached a point where the makeshift drumming was too distracting, she was more than ready to march over and tell him to stop. But then a bus pulled up and he promptly got up to board it.

It wasn’t Nayeon's, so she silently thanked the Gods under her breath, because at least she wasn't going to have to deal with him being an incessantly annoying distraction for the rest of her way home.

  
  
  


Dowoon’s collection of high school memories are mostly fuzzy. It wasn't a bad experience, per se, it was just to him they were years that simply came and went without much ado or excitement.

He often slept in between classes, but this was mostly because he spent late nights playing games online with friends he left back home in Busan. Truthfully, he hadn't been ready to make the move to Seoul after his last year of middle school, but his father's job transferred him, and the rest of the family had no choice but to pack up and follow suit.

This was probably not the best way to welcome high school, and it probably prevented him from making the most out of the three years, but it wasn't as if he felt anything lacking. He got along with the boys in class well enough that he at least had people to sit with during lunch, and the school’s big band had tapped him to play drums, so he still had extracurriculars to pad his records.

The lack of genuine connection made it easy to lose contact with most of his classmates after graduation however, and funny enough, maybe that's why he was curious enough to show up at the reunion. He doesn't think he's changed much since he was 18, and it would maybe be fun now, to see what kind of people he'd missed out on at that age.

  
  
  


The first memory of Nayeon that pops in Dowoon’s mind when he sees her again, five years after graduation, is the image of her back, small and tiny, and almost always hunched over while she takes notes.

He sat behind her for almost the entirety of their second year, but he doesn't really remember ever engaging her in actual conversation, other than when he would occasionally ask about the words their English teacher would write on the board – Teacher Kim had notoriously bad handwriting, while having perfect pronunciation of English words.

There _was_ one time, when the lead tip of Nayeon’s pencil had snapped in the middle of an exam, and she’d ended up cursing under her breath. Dowoon was confused at first, because he couldn’t make out what happened, but once he did, he simply, and inconspicuously, tapped her shoulder, handing her his sharpener after she looked over her shoulder.

She seemed pretty confused by him initially, but then her eyes widened, relief flooding them as she thankfully grabbed the item. After the exam, she’d returned the sharpener to him, bright eyes and big smile, and Dowoon recalls thinking that her bunny teeth were cute and suited her very well.

  
  
  


“So, how are you now?”

Everyone’s just making small talk with their seatmates over dinner, catching up on each other’s lives as if most of them don’t already know thanks to social media. Nayeon supposes she has one up over the rest of her old classmates in that aspect – she genuinely has no idea how Dowoon has been over the last five years, and she’s sure the same goes for him about her.

She thinks she _does_ have him on Facebook, but she can’t even be sure of that because she’s mostly on Instagram and Twitter, and she doesn’t have him added on either.

“Good,” he answers, short and curt, and it annoys her somewhat. She figures the least one can do at these silly social gatherings is attempt to carry on a conversation.

“Good,” she repeats, her tone sharply edged.

“Good,” Dowoon agrees, except this time he actually breaks out into a sheepish smile. “I’m entering what’s hopefully my last year of university,” he supplies.

“Ah.” Nayeon nods, slowly realising, with the stilted way that Dowoon is talking, that _okay,_ maybe he’s just generally awkward in social situations. Still annoying, but he’s obviously trying so she forgives him. He was a mystery to her even back in high school, mostly because she could never determine which crowd he belonged to, and Nayeon has always been a believer of the adage that birds of the same feather flock together. “What are you studying?”

“Music Theory,” Dowoon answers, smiling a little more confidently now. “I have no idea where that’ll take me after I graduate, but right now I’m earning decently while moonlighting as a drum teacher for kids, so maybe I could keep doing that for a while.”

_A drum teacher,_ Nayeon repeats in her head. _For children._ It’s strangely endearing. She recalls that he played drums for the school band back in the day, but she never realised that was something he was serious about.

“How about you?” Dowoon asks, pulling Nayeon out of her thoughts. “Did you ever kickstart your career as a singer?”

Nayeon’s eyes widen as she feels a warm flush spread across her cheeks. “You remember that?”

Through all six years of middle school and high school combined, she had consistently answered _‘singer’_ every time one of those questionnaires asking about dreams and hopes and future career aspirations circled around in class. Ultimately though, she ended up majoring in Broadcast Communications in college, landing a job as a junior PD in a small cable network after she graduated.

“Of course,” Dowoon says simply. “You talked about it a lot.” He pauses, as if realising something. “I mean—ah! Not to me, but—” His ears have turned red so quickly, and Nayeon finds it amusing.

“I did, but I always knew it was never feasible.” This is a lie; the dream had been genuine for a while, but by the time she was a high school senior, she was only parroting the desire out of habit.

“I’m sure it was, though!” Dowoon argues, nodding, a bit too animatedly for him, than Nayeon is used to. “If there was ever anyone in our class who could make it as a celebrity, it would have been you.”

Nayeon laughs, but when her roaming eyes settle on Seolhyun, who is seated in the middle of the room, surrounded by doting former classmates, they lose a little of their mirth. In high school that was her.

“I don’t know,” she exhales. “Seolhyun seems like she’d be pretty popular.” Back then, before she shed her baby fat, Seolhyun wasn’t much of a looker, but from what Nayeon understands, she’s now something of a J-rate celebrity herself; she’s a travel blogger by way of Instagram, where she has a good amount of followers.

“Oh.” Dowoon’s eyes follow her line of sight. “That’s true.”

“Yah!” Nayeon laughs, and re-focuses her full attention on him, lightly hitting his arm while she’s at it. “You’re supposed to disagree and then compliment me more!”

“Oh.” Dowoon blinks; his mouth curls up in an awkwardly crooked grin. “Sorry—should we do that exchange again?”

  
  
  


One time, during their first year of high school, Dowoon and Nayeon got assigned to after-school clean-up duty together. Dowoon was half-heartedly sweeping the floor, while Nayeon was trying to clean the blackboard. She’d caught his eye while jumping up and down lightly in a vain attempt to reach the top areas of the board – she was young, and she had a few more years to grow, but it was pretty annoying being among the tinier half of the class.

It was obvious that he tried not to, but Dowoon was unable to keep himself from letting out a snort. "Need help?"

Nayeon had turned and glared at him; it wasn’t as if he was _that_ tall. He wasn’t like Minhyun who was already all legs, even at only fifteen.

"Yes," she eventually caved in with a sigh, one hand holding the eraser out towards Dowoon.

He patted her head (which even then she had found quite uncharacteristic of him) when he took it, and then he exchanged the eraser for his broom. She'd stuck her tongue out at him, but he just laughed in response.

Five years later, and he really hasn't grown much taller (while she’s proudly gained a couple of centimeters since), but Nayeon thinks he's definitely broader around the shoulders. She figures that’s probably a direct effect of two years of mandatory service – she finds that she really doesn’t mind it.

  
  
  


“Are you by yourself?” Dowoon asks, right before they get served dessert.

Nayeon gives him a pointed look, before gesturing around the room. Dowoon flushes because obviously the room is filled with people they both know.

“No, I mean—” Dowoon laughs as he stumbles over his words. He wishes he was better at expressing himself, but that was something that he was never able to fix when he was younger, so now, even in adulthood, awkwardness is an issue that plagues him. He pauses, inhales deeply, and then he smiles at her. “Weren’t you and Jisoo attached at the hip back in high school? I would have thought you'd be here with her, instead of getting stuck talking to me.”

Nayeon huffs as if reminded of something unpleasant, and Dowoon can only sigh inwardly.

“You know that she's a flight attendant now?” She asks, to which Dowoon unsurprisingly shakes his head. “Well, she got stuck in Malaysia. Her flight got delayed, because there's a typhoon there, I think. So now she owes me.”

“Owes you what?”

Nayeon laughs. “Her life.” Dowoon is taken aback by her answer, and it clearly shows on face because she quickly doubles over. “I’m kidding. Just drinks, probably.”

  
  
  


At the end of her second year of high school, Nayeon had confessed to a graduating senior. That was the first time in her life that she made the first advances towards a guy, and when Jinyoung had accepted her feelings, she was ecstatic. What followed after had been a wonderful spring filled with love.

Or so Nayeon wishes would have happened, because that was far from reality.

They went out on a few awkward dates, and by the time Nayeon’s third year began, right on the first day of it, she was dumped.

Dowoon does not know any of this, but he does have a very vivid recollection of walking in on her after class, Nayeon bawling her eyes out as she sat by herself in the corner of the room. She was seated on Dowoon’s chair, which was awkward, because the only reason he’d gone back was because he left his drumsticks in his table compartment.

Nayeon had looked up at him, and even with red eyes and tear-stained cheeks, she’d fixed a glare on him that was quite menacing. Out of fear, he almost turned and walked out on her in that moment.

Still, he marched on, so he can retrieve his drum sticks. He didn't say a single word to Nayeon, but he did offer her the starched handkerchief he always carried with him, thanks to his mom, who frequently told him that real gentlemen always had a handkerchief on them so they can lend it to others in true times of vulnerability.

Nayeon’s glare had softened at the offer, replaced instead with confusion, but she graciously took it anyway. Even without saying anything, Dowoon could detect the gratefulness in her expression, and without another word he'd left her afterwards. It was obvious that she would rather be alone, after all.

Dowoon thinks that was the first and last time he'd been able to use a hanky the way his mother intended for him to.

  
  
  


After dinner, someone (Namjoo, Nayeon thinks) suggests going out for late night noraebang and more drinks. This brightens Nayeon up, because singing has always been her comfort zone. Even now, as an adult, nothing relieves her stress better than an hour by herself at a coin noraebang booth.

“Pass,” Dowoon answers so suddenly, that the rising panic she immediately feels in her chest surprises Nayeon.

A few of the other guys are quick to try and convince him otherwise, and for a quick second, when Nayeon meets his gaze, it looks like he might reconsider. But then,

“Rain check,” he says with finality.

Five minutes later, for some reason, Nayeon is excusing herself from the group as they loudly walk down the sidewalk, en route to the nearest noraebang. Instead, she quickly jogs back towards the direction they came from, and lets out a quiet sigh of relief when she's still able to catch sight of Dowoon’s retreating figure.

“Yoon Dowoon!” She calls out, picking up her speed until she manages to fall into step with him; she doesn't know if it's luck that he walks very slowly, or if he was doing that on purpose, maybe with hope of this exactly happening. Nayeon briefly wonders if she’s fallen into a trap, but then again, Dowoon doesn't seem to be that type of wiley. “Yoon Dowoon,” she repeats with a light touch to his elbow. “It’s a nice night, isn't it? Let's go for a drive.”

Technically, it's still winter, but for once it's a pretty nice evening out, as if spring is already starting to peek around the corner. Nayeon thinks it's perfect for staying out late.

  
  
  


They find themselves inside a convenience store, only two blocks away from their old high school, and as they pass by the chocolate section, still overly decorated in cloying pink, they're reminded that Valentine's Day just passed by a little over a week ago.

Nayeon recalls typically spending weekends before the day itself with Jisoo, making special homemade chocolates for whichever boy has caught their fancy that year; all the ugly and disfigured trial chocolate that didn't make the final cut always served as friendship chocolate that they gave to the rest of the boys in class.

She assumes Dowoon must have been the recipient of such friendship chocolate from them at least once, but she's certain that she never saw him with a bulk of romantically packaged chocolates. She never thought much of it back in the day, mostly because she never placed too much focus on Dowoon overall.

Now, curiously, she asks, “Did girls ever give you romantic Valentine chocolates?”

“Once,” is how he answers. “Someone wrote me a confession letter in high school, and left it in my locker on Valentine's Day,” Dowoon admits softly. “It came with homemade chocolates.”

For some reason, Nayeon is quite surprised.

“Who—?” She asks, eyes wide.

Dowoon ducks his head, laughing shyly. “I never found out,” he says; and then after a significant pause, he adds, “Until tonight.”

“Seriously?!” Nayeon almost chokes in surprise. “Who?”

Dowoon's ears are a bright red as he places two cans of green tea and a bag of pretzels (to share, as they'd agreed on) on the counter. He mumbles a name that she doesn’t quite catch.

“What was that?”

“Seolhyun,” he repeats, just as the store employee announces the total price of their snacks.

_Oh, wow,_ Nayeon thinks. Miss J-rate celebrity herself. She didn’t even notice Dowoon talk to her all evening – but she gathers it was probably when Jiyeon and a few of the other girls dragged her away to take some pictures of their old lunch crew.

“That means she’s still interested in you right now, doesn’t it?” Nayeon stares at Dowoon. “If she let you know now, five whole years after the fact.”

Dowoon shrugs.

“Aren’t you interested?” Nayeon prods.

“I—” He comically scratches the side of his head, and Nayeon would laugh if she wasn’t feeling a strange irritation at the pit of her stomach. “I didn’t really think about it. She just said, uh—she said she liked me in high school, and—a bunch of other stuff.”

He looks so shy about the topic, and Nayeon is both annoyed and endeared at once.

“Did she give you her number?” Nayeon asks, huffing as she tosses a chocolate bar onto the counter even though the employee has already finished ringing everything else up. “I bet she gave you her number.”

And then Dowoon actually _laughs,_ and she really, truly doesn’t get him. “Yeah, she did,” he admits, and then he doesn’t offer much else information.

  
  
  


Their alma mater boasted an average population of roughly 1,500 students. The school area was expansive, mostly to make room for the school’s sports teams. Nayeon mostly hung out at the choir room with her friends, while Dowoon never really had a fixed nook. If anything, he spent a lot of time behind the library stacks, asleep or quietly listening to his music.

Because they’re already in the area, Nayeon has the bright idea to visit the campus, and Dowoon, because he’s Dowoon, easily agrees.

“It’s dark,” Nayeon whispers. They left her car parked outside the convenience store from earlier, and now the two of them are standing elbow to elbow, and staring at their old school gates from across the street.

“It’s past eleven—almost midnight,” Dowoon points out, quite obviously, and Nayeon laughs.

Tree leaves rustle as a chilling breeze blows, and she moves to tighten her jacket around her frame. “It seemed bigger when I was fifteen.”

“Um.” Dowoon nods. “Don’t people usually say that about most settings from their childhood?”

“You… are right,” Nayeon mumbles, a little embarrassed from making such a pointless and obvious conversation.

“Want to break in?”

Nayeon cackles, because she assumes the offer is nothing more than a joke; but Dowoon doesn’t join her, and when she gives him a sideways glance, he shrugs.

“The padlock they use in the back gate was broken—it’s been five years, but upkeep for the school was horrible. It’s worth a try.”

  
  
  


“Do you know that boys used to ask Jisoo to give me their letters?” Nayeon shares randomly as they sit together in front of the library steps, drinking cold green tea, and sharing the original-flavored pretzels that they got at the minimart earlier.

It turns out Dowoon was right about the terrible upkeep and security of the school, and they’re able to easily enter from the back gate. The school is dark and empty, which is to be expected on a Sunday night, she supposes, but for some reason it isn’t as eerie as she would have assumed it to be.

They tried entering the senior building, but whoever is in charge of it has a better head on their shoulders, because it’s actually _locked,_ which is how they found themselves at the library instead.

Nayeon doesn’t know why she decides to tell Dowoon about her high school best friend once being made to act as a messenger for her – she probably saw _Clueless_ one too many times in her youth, and this is her way of trying to appear desirable to a boy. It’s stupid, because she’s in her mid-twenties, and she should know better. Apparently she doesn’t.

“I know,” Dowoon answers simply. “You sat in front of me for all of junior year. I kinda remember.”

“Oh.” Nayeon doesn’t know what else to say; now she just feels silly.

“Even if I didn’t know, it isn’t surprising. All the boys found you cute in high school.”

“Just in high school?”

“Um.” Dowoon chuckles softly, looking down as he flicks a pretzel crumb off his knee. “You’re still pretty, and I’m sure you know it.”

Nayeon beams – a little too easily, and a little too widely, but she couldn’t help it. “Thank you,” she says, genuinely grateful. He’s right that she knows it, but at the same time it never feels enough these days, especially compared to when she was younger. “Last month, this guy from the accounting department asked me to hand over a confession letter to this new junior PD. It felt very juvenile.”

She glances at Dowoon, half-expecting him to make a comment, but he remains quiet; he’s looking at her like he’s waiting for her to continue, so she does.

“I was jealous anyway,” she murmurs softly in admittance. “I used to be the one on the receiving end of those things, you know? I was never the messenger—and Jihyo is great, really! But for a brief moment, I resented her for getting a confession letter. I’m 25, and I felt really ashamed after. Recently, I’ve been thinking, and maybe it isn’t that she got a love confession, you know? I don’t care about that—I guess, I was just reminded of how simple things used to be. I’m pretty sure that’s why I came tonight, even though Jisoo is stuck in the middle of nowhere, and she was supposed to be my excuse. I was supposed to say I only came tonight because she made me.”

“But you don’t regret it, right?” Dowoon finally interjects.

“Coming tonight?”

He nods.

“Not really,” Nayeon answers with completely honestly.

Dowoon flashes her another crooked grin. “I don’t either,” he shares. “And I only came because I realised I knew absolutely nothing about most of you.”

“That’s not true,” Nayeon murmurs; it isn’t because she’s actually surprised by the amount of trivial things Dowoon remembers about her.

“I’m starting to realise that,” he admits. “And that’s why I don’t regret going tonight.”

  
  
  


“So, dude, what are Seoul girls like?” His friends from Busan used to ask him this question a lot when they were 15, 16… 17. And it wasn’t as if Dowoon didn’t have an interest in girls, he did, _really,_ he just didn’t think there was much difference between the ones from back home, and the ones in Seoul. It wasn’t as if Busan was some backwards town, it was a city too, for Christ’s sake.

His friends had weird ideas, though, and arguing was too much effort, so more often than not, he just played along.

“They’re okay,” he used to answer. “They’re nice. Pale-skinned. Tiny, round faces. Eyes that light up, and cute bunny teeth that appear when they smile. Lips that remind you of cherries.”

He never thought much about the kinds of descriptions he used to give – his friends ate them up all the time anyway, talking about how they were going to visit Dowoon in Seoul soon, and how he better help them meet girls like that.

They do visit him a couple of times, but Dowoon never introduces them to any such girl.

“I made her up,” He told them, much to their disappointment. “You guys just imagined what you imagined. Girls are… girls.”

  
  
  


“You mentioned you were in a band?”

They found the doors to the auditorium unlocked, so here they were, sitting on the edge of the stage, faces illuminated with nothing but the dim lighting coming from their phone screens.

Nayeon had overheard Dowoon telling Seungcheol this earlier, back at the restaurant, and she's been itching with curiosity ever since. She's a little disappointed that he hasn’t brought it up himself, but she figures if she wants to know more then she might as well ask.

“Oh,” Dowoon ducks his head. “Yeah.”

She used to perform in this same auditorium for school functions back in the day; now she imagines standing front and center on this exact stage, singing her heart out while Dowoon, on drums, supports her from behind

For a fleeting moment, she wonders: what if they knew each other better at sixteen? Would they have tried to form a band together?

“What are you guys called?”

“This month, we’re 5Live,” Dowoon says. “Last month we were Team 5. A couple of months before that, we were Ocean’s 5. Before that.. we were DAY6.” He laughs. “We can’t make up our minds yet.”

“I’m guessing… there are five of you?” Nayeon says with a laugh. “And before that, there were… six?”

“Ah, wow—!” Dowoon claps once. “Magnificently guessed—are you psychic?”

Nayeon hits his arm, even as she brightly beams at him. “I think that’s kind of amazing. In high school, I never realised how much you were into music.”

Dowoon shrugs. “I don’t think a lot of people knew much about me back then,” he says. “I don’t really know how to share things with people.”

“You’re sharing with me right now,” Nayeon points out; and she’s sharing with him, as well, she realises. It’s kind of nice.

“That’s true,” Dowoon nods. “You should watch us some time—we play a lot around Hongdae.”

  
  
  


“Are they looking for you? Um.” Dowoon shifts in his seat, fiddling with the sleeve of his jacket as he watches her busily text someone on her phone. He doesn't know how much time has passed since they decided to trespass into their old school grounds. “I mean, should you be getting back home?”

“I’m a grown woman, Dowoon,” Nayeon responds. “I don't have a curfew.”

“Sorry,” he mumbles, half smiling.

She looks up, and flashes a smile he can only describe as cute. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound short. It’s just my roommate,” she explains. “She keeps asking where I am.”

“You have a roommate?”

“Unfortunately,” Nayeon giggles. “I have two. I’m not yet rich enough to live alone—everyday, I wish I was, though. But I’m pretty sure that’s a long way from now.”

“I have two of them, too. But I guess they’re alright,” Dowoon shrugs. “They’re in the band, too.”

“You must get along with them very well.”

The assumption actually makes Dowoon laugh, even though there isn't anything wrong with it. He thinks maybe he's simply taken it for granted how easy it is to live with Jae and Younghyun – but then, he thinks he's a pretty low maintenance housemate himself. “They’re okay. They can be really noisy, but I’ve learned to ignore them when they are.” Dowoon speaks nonchalantly, but there’s a hint of fondness in his tone.

“I say unfortunately, but Jungyeon and Momo are pretty great,” Nayeon whispers. Dowoon grin at her, not doubting what she’s saying, and when her own smile widens in response, he finds himself feeling nice and at ease.

  
  
  


Dowoon was always pretty laid back about most things, even when he was younger. He was hyper aware of the way he tended to create an awkward atmosphere in social situations, so _that_ was embarrassing, but otherwise, in his daily life, he did what was expected of him without complaint, and in turn, he did what he wanted with his life without feeling like he owed anyone anything.

His parents paid for cram school – after school tutorials were the norm for anyone after all, so he attended them. He never really worried too much about future however, because by the time he was 18, Dowoon had started assuming that life would simply take him where he deserved to be.

(At 25, he'd like to think that life has taken him somewhere pretty decent – he has no cause for complaints, at least.)

So. Day of the College Scholastic Ability Test, he was feeling pretty calm.

Nayeon, on the contrary, was a nervous mess. The last three years of her life suddenly seemed like it had led to this specific day, and no amount of studying she did felt enough. It didn’t help that none of her friends had been assigned to the same testing center.

She was waiting to be led inside the correct room, when she’d spotted Dowoon, looking as unbothered as he usually does whenever she saw him by himself, in class, earbuds on and presumably lost in his music.

Nayeon had silently walked up to him, rubbing her uncharacteristically sweaty palms on her skirt while she waited for Dowoon to notice her.

He doesn't, at least not until proctors start ushering everyone inside the classrooms. Dowoon finally looked up, and their eyes met just before Nayeon started to walk away.

He’d flashed a quick grin at her, and mouthed what she assumed was something like _“good luck.”_

It wasn't much, but it still helped her feel just a tad more at ease.

  
  
  


“We should go,” Nayeon says with a sigh.

They're seated on the bleachers overlooking the baseball field, huddled close because it's late, and it's technically still winter, even though the promise of spring has been peeking around the corner recently.

“Huh?” Dowoon is snapped out of his reverie. (Just for a second, he'd been taken back to when their team had made regionals, and he'd stood in the grandstand with the rest of the school's big band. Thinking about it now, he reckons that was a pretty exciting time – and it makes him smile, because it turns out he does have fond memories of high school like that, albeit few and far in between.)

“We should go,” Nayeon repeats.

“Oh. Yeah. It’s… late.” Dowoon admittedly has to stifle a yawn when he speaks; he wonders if it shows on his face.

He gets up and it’s obvious that he’s waiting for Nayeon to follow suit, but despite leaving being her idea, she doesn't budge.

It’s as if the entire night – a full night’s worth of nostalgia and reminiscing – finally hits her in _that_ moment, while she blankly stares at the baseball diamond.

“Are you where you thought you would be?” She asks. “I mean—five years after graduation?”

She laughs because Dowoon looks startled; there’s bitterness in her tone though and even she can hear it in herself, because _okay._ Maybe she coasted through life in her teenaged years – maybe her life hasn’t really felt as promising since she turned twenty, and maybe tonight has been a stark reminder of that, as much as it has also been a reminder of all the good times.

“No,” Dowoo answers, after he finally gathers his bearings. “I guess not—but who is?” He sits again next to her, palms rubbing at his knees. “Although I can’t really remember where I assumed I would be by now, five years ago. School, probably—so I guess I actually _am_ where I thought I’d be?” He grins and gestures around them as if to drive his point home.

He’s joking again, and to be fair, Nayeon actually cracks a smile at his words.

“Sometimes when idols go on the show I work on—a part of me wonders if I could have done better,” Nayeon whispers.

“I’m sure you could,” Dowoon agrees, and it’s almost sweet how he obviously truly believes that.

“No, I can’t have,” Nayeon counters matter-of-factly. “Because I couldn’t even try hard enough to chase after the dream myself.”

Pride was probably her worst enemy during her youth; she went to an audition once, failed to get a callback, and that was exactly when becoming a singer stopped being feasible. A small part of her expected opportunities to always come her way, so rejection had been too foreign. This is the first time she’s admitting this out loud, and surprisingly, instead of feeling worse with shame, she feels lighter.

“That’s—” Dowoon nods slowly, but it’s clear that he’s unsure how to respond, so Nayeon just smiles and pats his knee. It’s okay, because she wouldn’t know what to say either. She wouldn’t want to be patronised with useless platitudes at this point, after all. But then, “Are you unhappy?”

This time, it’s Nayeon’s turn to be surprised by the question.

“No, I guess...not—?”

“It’s only been five years since high school, I’m pretty sure that no one’s got their life straightened out, so as long as you’re not unhappy, then you’re still doing better than most of us.”

“Seolhyun seems to be doing just fine,” Nayeon murmurs.

“Is she?” Dowoon laughs. “I have no idea—but if she is, she’s probably the exception, not you.”

“Well—Jonghyun and Nayoung have a family,” Nayeon offers. “They’re flying off to Canada in two months. I’d say they have their shit figured out.”

“I actually don’t think the baby was planned,” Dowoon whispers conspiratorially. “That’s what I heard earlier, anyway—but they seem to be happy. Doesn’t mean they have their life all figured out.”

Nayeon laughs; in her head, she’s ticking off her classmates, comparing their current lives to her own, but she knows this isn’t good exercise so she forces herself to stop.

“I just feel like I was more hopeful when I graduated,” she explains. “I wish back then I knew better about life moving forward. Maybe I would have planned accordingly, instead of expecting everything to come easy like it always did.”

“Well, do you think you know better now?”

Nayeon stares at him; she almost says yes, but she bites her tongue when she realises that maybe in five years she’d look back and realise that she actually doesn’t.

“I think you’re too tough on yourself,” Dowoon continues. 

“Maybe I should always have been.”

“Maybe,” Dowoon agrees. “But right now, it’s probably better to focus on what you still have—and what you can do to steer your life towards the direction you want now.”

“What I do I still have?” Nayeon’s breath hitches. “What do I want my life to be like?”

“Whoa there—” Dowoon laughs and raises his palms, as if in surrender. “How should I know?”

Nayeon blinks at him, and then she bursts into laughter. She allowed herself to get worked up, but it isn’t as if Dowoon could answer her life problems. “You’re right,” she acquiesces. “I’m sorry.”

Dowoon shrugs. “I’m sure you have a lot, though.”

“I’m not,” she counters. “Not sure, I mean. But again, you’re right—at the very least I should stop thinking about what I could have done in the past.”

  
  
  


Having your friends sign your yearbook wasn't really a big tradition in their high school, but Nayeon thought she might as well try and get as much people to do it for her anyway. Frankly, to 18 year old Nayeon, it was just another way to feel loved among her peers.

By morning of their graduation ceremonies, she had almost everyone's signatures and briefly written well wishes in her book. Everyone was understandably in a huge hurry, between entertaining their parents and having emotional goodbyes with friends. When Nayeon spotted Dowoon, she had hesitated approaching him. What little she knew about him made him assume that the most he'll write is probably his name, and maybe a smiley face if he was feeling extra generous.

_“I hope we run into each other again someday!”_

It made her smile when she got those words instead.

“Thanks,” she told him.

“I’m glad to be getting out of this place,” he remarked, mumbly and nonchalant. “Aren’t you?”

Nayeon laughed, because she was, and wasn't at the same time. It had been a strange feeling. “Sure,” she said anyway. “See you later, Dowoon! And thank you.”

“Later!”

  
  
  


“I can’t believe we’ve been out all night,” Nayeon murmurs, as she pulls her car to a stop in front of the apartment building that Dowoon leads her to.

The sun is just beginning to rise over the horizon, and as Nayeon watches it, she finally starts to feel fatigue slowly begin to set in.

“Not really all night,” Dowoon points out. “We were _inside_ school for some of it. And inside your car, too.”

Nayeon snorts, hitting his arm but without any real strength behind it. Dowoon can be funny – that’s something she’s learned over the last ten hours.

“Don’t be so literal,” she berates him anyway.

“Heh.” Dowoon chuckles, and he finally starts to unbuckle himself from his seat.

“We never really spent a lot of time together in high school, did we?” Nayeon muses out loud as she watches him fiddle with the seatbelt; there’s a trick to the buckle, but she doesn’t want to tell him about it just yet.

“Are you surprised you had a good time with me?” Dowoon teases, sighing as he momentarily gives up on the seatbelt.

“Yes,” Nayeon admits. Dowoon’s ears, once again, turn red, and she grins like it’s a kind of victory for her. “Let me—” She finally says, unbuckling herself so that she can more easily lean in and jiggle his seatbelt buckle in just the right way, easily freeing Dowoon from his seat in a matter of seconds.

She moves away, but not before she manages to catch a whiff of Dowoon’s scent; it’s a strange mix of sweat and faint men’s cologne. It’s nice, though, and it makes her realise how much she still wants to spend time with him.

“I had fun tonight, Nayeon,” Dowoon says, just as he reaches for the door handle, only for Nayeon to move swiftly, grabbing his hand to still him.

“So—” She swallows, and looks up, eyes meeting his gaze. “Breakfast?”

There’s a small, but visible shift in Dowoon’s expression – but Nayeon easily recognises it as relief, with a tinge of hope.

“Coffee, at the very least?” He offers shyly. “There’s a coffee shop, actually—just around the corner.”

Nayeon laughs, leans away and straps herself back into her seat.

“I was starting to think you’d never ask.”

  
  


~

  
  


(Nayeon had her first kiss behind the school auditorium when she was fifteen; it was nothing more than a five second press of lips, not even long enough for her to determine if her three-day boyfriend’s lips tasted like anything familiar.

Dowoon had his first kiss, funny enough, in the exact same spot, one year and five months, give or take, later. An upperclassman had confessed to him, much to his surprise, and when he had apologised and told her that he couldn’t accept her feelings, she had asked for a kiss, and Dowoon had been too tongue tied to say no. Her lips tasted like peppermint gum, like she made sure she was ready for it, and that’s all he remembers of it.

When Dowoon and Nayeon first kiss, it happens _inside_ the auditorium, darkness surrounding them and their phones going into rest mode just as Nayeon makes the first move. If they had better lighting, she would have probably noticed Dowoon’s ears turning a deep shade of red the moment she began to lean in.

There’s a feeling of uncertainty when her mouth first land on Dowoon’s, but it immediately disappears when he moves almost instantaneously, his lips parting against hers, and _oh,_ she thinks, smiling because it feels nice, and right, and almost perfect.

The only thought in Dowoon’s head is that Nayeon tastes like cherries, just like he always expected her to – and then he almost laughs into the kiss, because it dawns on him that apparently he’s thought enough about kissing her before that he’s formed expectations.)

  
  
  
  
  


_fin._

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading to the end! As always, feedback is greatly appreciated!   
>  [TWT](http://twitter.com/hanmings) && [CC](http://curiouscat.me/yiminho) are both available for any other concerns.


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